Alibaba'S Commitment To Crack Down On Fake And Inferior Goods Has Not Yet Yielded Results, Causing Luxury Goods To Fight Against It

Alibaba, the world's largest online retailer, has promised to crack down on counterfeit and shoddy goods all the time luxury goods Card said that it has not yet achieved results, following Michael After Kors, Italian luxury brand Gucci also publicly expressed its opposition to joining IACC Alibaba Camp, the luxury industry is gathering strength to fight against Ma Yun.

IACC is an international non-profit organization specialized in combating counterfeit and shoddy products, with more than 250 luxury brands fashion Brand members. Members of IACC also include law firms, investigation and product safety companies, government agencies and intellectual property associations. All members of these institutions are committed to combating counterfeit and shoddy goods. To the surprise of the fashion industry, Ali Baba, whose platform sells counterfeit and shoddy goods, also officially joined IACC in April this year.

Since Alibaba joined IACC, Michael Kors, an American luxury brand headquartered in New York, immediately announced to quit the organization to protest. Lee, Michael Kors' long-term legal adviser Sporn said in his letter to IACC that Alibaba is the most dangerous presence in the fashion industry. Alibaba's strategy is limited to verbal support for brand enforcement, but the problem of fake goods on its trading platform has not been actually solved. Michael Kors has not set up online flagship stores on any platform of Alibaba at present, but the luxury e-commerce Charm and Luxury invested in Alibaba has products for sale.

Last weekend, Gucci's name was officially removed from the list of IACC brand members. Candice, Vice President of IACC Li Uzoigwe pointed out that Alibaba's participation has caused dissatisfaction with many luxury and fashion brands. Gucci decided to officially leave the organization last Wednesday to join the camp against Alibaba. Earlier, the French accessories brand Longchamp also openly expressed dissatisfaction with Alibaba's membership.

The parent company of Gucci, Kaiyun Group, has always been keen on the problem of fakes in the Chinese market. Last May, the luxury brands Gucci Yves Saint Laurent and others jointly filed a lawsuit in the United States Manhattan Federal Court, accusing Alibaba of allegedly violating relevant laws and regulations on trademark and fraud, demanding compensation for losses and issuing an injunction to the defendant. The lawsuit said that Alibaba had conspired with manufacturers to produce counterfeit goods and provide services for their sales and transportation. These counterfeit goods use brand trademarks without permission. In November of the same year, Kaiyun Group filed a lawsuit against Alibaba for the second time for the same reason.

Previously, Forbes magazine reported that Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba, said that he would rather lose the lawsuit than solve the problem. In a report published on Forbes' website on November 6 last year, Ma Yun almost jumped up from the sofa when he talked about Kaiyun Group's lawsuit against Alibaba Platform for infringing its trademark rights and selling counterfeit goods, saying "I would rather lose this lawsuit than lose money", "but we will win dignity and respect".

However, an insider from Alibaba who was close to the Forbes interview believed that the Forbes interview and article writing were full of subjective factors and prejudice against the Chinese market. In fact, Ma Yun's description of the event was relatively comprehensive, but they only intercepted "the fragments they hoped to get" and spliced these interview paragraphs together.

Later, the incident reversed. Due to the strong market share of Alibaba e-commerce, Kaiyun Group began to relax and accept mediation. Some people in the industry believe that Alibaba Group owns Taobao and Tmall platforms, but it is a member with problems, and its platforms are rampant in counterfeiting and shoddy goods. The membership of IACC is mainly provided for companies affected by counterfeit goods and seeking intellectual property protection. However, due to the industry status and relevant policies of Alibaba Group, it has the opportunity to cooperate with IACC, a potential partner in combating counterfeit and pirated goods.

Barbara, former general counsel of high-end shoe brand Stuart Weitzman Kolsun, chairman of the IACC board of directors, revealed to reporters last week that about 20 brands and other IACC members had privately expressed their feelings to Michael through email and phone calls Kors action support. However, they are unwilling to make a public statement because they are working with Alibaba to remove fake and inferior goods from their websites.

Some analysts said that due to the sluggish performance in recent years, more and more giants have joined in the crackdown on counterfeit goods in China's luxury market. Luxury brand Louis Vuitton appealed to the Beijing court at the beginning of this year that three shopkeepers claimed 250000 yuan for selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton brand products, and the shopkeeper was from the Taobao e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group.

LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, the leader of the luxury industry, is also a member of IACC. So far, no comment has been made on the continuous withdrawal of luxury brands from IACC.

According to the latest information of IACC on its official website, Ma Yun will attend the IACC from May 18 to 20 Spring 2016 Conference. At the keynote speech conference, he will address the importance of e-commerce, work with the industry to combat counterfeiting, and highlight Alibaba's efforts to protect intellectual property rights on its platform.

There is still more than a week left for the speech. As more and more luxury brands withdraw from IACC and join the anti Alibaba camp, how Alibaba will deal with this event will become the focus of domestic and foreign media.